Phuket to Phnom Penh
So Chris and I wake in the am to catch a flight form Phuket to Phnom Penh Cambodia and we are running late and our last resort is a Tuk Tuk to the airport. We have an hr to get there and we are in a line of traffic. There is some bike race and half the lanes are blocked off. shit are we going to make it. We tell the driver that were going to miss our flight and he hit the gas into on coming traffic. Swerving back and forth as another vehicle appears over the bend, dipping and diving sweat dripping off us cause its 90 out and the near death ride. Our flight is delayed..
Once we land its complete mayhem , just tons of people all over waiting in line for visas. As we stand there "Lt Col.Tho Sreng" comes us to Chris and I and order us over. Give us your passports you don't have to stand in this line. "For 1000 baht i get you your visa and off you go" Chris and I gladly hand I'm the 1000 baht note and hes gone puff!. We wait about 10 minutes and he shows back up with our passports visas and we are on our way. The cost was 20 US dollars and a 1000 baht is 30 at the time. I guess they get that scam going for the white man.. Ill pay the white man tax anytime I don't have to stand on line .. Off to our hotel in Phnom Penh.
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| from our hotel in Phnom Penh |
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| the Palace in Phnom Penh |
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| Temple Phnom Penh. |
We reach our hotel and its right next to the presidential palace and we are on the 10th floor.. Hey where is the elevator?? No elevator at all got to hump it . Now the hotel view was pretty cool and you can see the sun is setting. Chris and I both take showers to wash Phuket off us and we head out into the city. Cambodia is a really poor country and it is also very alive. With the Mekong cutting through Cambodia it is a very easy mode of travel and a few million depend on this river for food and travel. We find a roof top restaurant and have a few barley pops and off to bed. In the am we head to S21 camp and The Killing fields..
S21 concentration camp and The Killing Fields
We wake up in the am about 8am and the night before we arranged a tuk tuk to take us all over the city. our 1st stop is the S21 camp. If you dont know about Pol Pot or what he has done to the Cambodian people do some research. He basically was committing genocide within his own country. He wanted a country or worker bees and and kill off all that would be a threat to him. It is estimated that between 1-3 million people died. In a country of roughly 8 million people having 3 million killed is just insane to think about. Pol Pot lived into his late 80s without ever being brought to trial.. Crazy..
When we arrived at the S21 camp I did not know what to expect.. All I can say is that during the tour you just feel gutted knowing what went on behind these walls. From the little brick cells with hand prints from those who have died there to the booking photos of the ones who did not make it out alive.. I don't think I have smiled since I have been to Cambodia. What it there to smile about? All the human suffering that has going down in this square in the middle of the city..
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| S21 Camp |
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| think you have it bad..? |
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| the cells |
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| they would hang you upside down and dunk you till you gave it up |
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| the racks |
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| only 14 made it out alive this is one of the 2 left. |
The Killing Fields
After a morning of looking at all there is to be seen at the S21 camp we are off to the Killing Fields
it was about a 40 min ride to the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Driving in 90+ weather and the dust is almost overwhelming but you deal with it. We stop and have lunch outside the gate to the killing fields and as soon as we jump of our tuk tuk we are surrounded by children begging for money. It is hard to say no but you cant give money to everybody you see so you have to take a stand against that 6 yr old girl. Sucks but that's what you have to do. As we enter the killing fields we are handed a headset so we can take the tour and listen to what had happened behind the fences. as we walk around the site we pass mass grave upon mass grave. I become sicker at every turn.. looking at teeth and bones coming through the ground. We must of passed about 200 mass graves then we come to the Big tree. Now the big tree was hung with speakers and they were played full blast so nobody on the outside could hear the screams of people being put to death.. Most were beaten to death and necks slit...... So they could save the bullets.. Felling Gutted..
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| skulls from people 15-25 |
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| undisturbed mass grave |
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| mass grave |
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